fitness, health & fashion by model and YouTuber Kirby Anne Akindeinde

Month: April 2016

Be:Fit London, an exclusive health and fitness festival for women, will be returning next weekend and I can’t wait! Founded by Leigh Furgus in 2014, Be:FIT London was created with the aim to inspire women to be healthy and happy…

“Only one in five UK women do enough exercise to stay fit, healthy and happy (Women in Sport). Research showed this was due to body image, self esteem and a lack of non-competitive environments for women to exercise. Our Founder, Leigh, felt so passionate about this that she created Be:Fit London, Europe’s only health & fitness festival dedicated to women.” Be:FIT London

The festival, which attracted 15,000+ women at the second ever event last year, takes to London for the third time over next week’s bank holiday weekend, from April 29th- May 1st 2016. Packed with motivational talks, the industry’s hottest fitness classes, body treatments, health checks and their very own shopping village, you can visit for any of the three days or grab a pass for all three! You can even opt for a VIP option, which includes fast track entry to all classes, free treatments, food and drink, a glass of bubbly on arrival, entry to the VIP lounge and much more. See all ticket prices and passes here.

I’ll definitely be paying a visit next week so watch out here for all the action! Let me know if you’ll be there and make sure to say hi! xx

Let’s play a game. I’ll say a string of words, you say what you associate them with. Let’s go…

Headstands, handstands and roly-polies.

Now let me guess, all of the things that you came up with were related to childhood? Either that or the circus! However, if you’d have attended the same class that I did on Saturday then you may have answered slightly differently. That’s right, there’s a new craze about to hit the fitness scene. It’s known as Power of the Body and is led by model, corrective exercise and movement coach (not, I repeat, not fitness trainer), Roger Frampton.

On my first visit to one of Roger’s classes, I had absolutely no idea what to expect. Pre-class I headed over to his Instagram full of videos of impressive body lifts and crazy positions, which surely I wouldn’t have to perform… right?! Think again. We spent the whole class learning how to hold our body weight in the crow position- that’s hands on the floor, knees on elbows and feet off of the ground for anybody that doesn’t know- before falling forward into a roly-poly. Something that I have no doubt the 5 year olds of today can do with ease, I was horrified to find ridiculously hard. Although after much stumbling, squealing and ungraceful flailing, by the end of #TheFramptonMethod session I was roly-poly queen!

I came away from the first class quite baffled, surprisingly intrigued and with a hunger to learn more. Good job Roger invited me down to attend a second class. This time, my crow-pro boyfriend had an invite too… We’re usually quite competitive, but I decided to shy away from any challenges. Who knew what would be in store!

Saturday came around quickly and we turned up eager and ready to roll, only to discover that we would be advancing to headstands, using roly-polies as a warm up! Surprised at how I fell perfectly into a roll and straight up into squat position (woo!) maybe it was time to compete after all. Or perhaps not.

Health blogger and model Rebecca Pearson, demonstrated a shockingly good headstand to which we all then had a go. Unfortunately, mine wasn’t quite as picture perfect (see the dreadful video below). It’s amazing to see what we could do so easily as a child, we are now physically and mentally unable to do with ease. My muscles felt tense, weak, yet not quite ready to quit. Roger focuses on regenerating the body into the form we once all had, using body-weight training consisting of controlled slow movements to get you there. We spent the hour and a half handstanding, squatting, holding painful positions and falling over, but once again, I left feeling fab!

What’s great about Roger’s class is that it hosts a variety of abilities and everybody seems to be good at different parts. You learn how to overcome pain, you’re supposed to fall over and it takes you back to childhood. Oh, and it’s actually really good for your body! All-in-all, it’s a damn good laugh and you feel a great sense of achievement. You can even take your new knowledge home with you to practice as you wish. Although I do kind of feel like my living room has turned into a gymnasium, as my twenty two year old boyfriend tries to master the headstand…

Sooo, it’s not something that I can say I’ve ever thought of before. Sure, for some, the gym may be the perfect place to meet a hubby/wife. If you’re into fitness then it’s a great opportunity to meet somebody like-minded. Besides, a hot bod is always a bonus. However, I don’t know of many- in fact, let me rephrase that. I don’t know of any people who have been taken to the gym on a first date, never mind dated multiple people there all at once to see who’s the best fit. Well things are about to change, as the boutique gym that’s been causing quite a stir in the fitness scene strikes again. Introducing Bumble HIIT Dating at 1Rebel.

In the same way as Bumble does, 1Rebel will be allowing the women to make the decisions, holding a station whilst the men rotate at the end of each 2 minute round. That gives you 2 minutes to perfect those press ups, planks and whatever else they have you performing. If you can make an impression whilst being out of breath, sweaty and shouted at by one of the hardcore 1Rebel trainers, then surely it’s a match worth pursuing?

To top things off and to get to know that person you had your eye on a little better (or to revive yourself from the in-class tomato face), there’ll be happy hour at the 1Rebel bar. Yes, the gym does also have a bar.

There’s limited spaces and I feel that the classes might be in surprisingly high demand, so make sure to contact Talilla at Talilla@1Rebel.co.uk to secure a spot. xx

Kelly, can you handle this? Michelle, can you handle this? Beyoncé, can you handle this? I don’t think they can handle this! Well actually, I’m sure that they can. As can you, with my new bootylicious workouts ready to whip that butt into shape in no time!

There’s two to choose from, starting with the Ultimate Booty Building Squat Exercises. This one’s a full workout routine consisting of nothing but squats. From sumo to jumping, curtsy to kicking and the good old standard squat, there’s nearly every squat variation that you can think of (or fit into one workout).

Then there’s the no excuses, 3 Minute Booty Blast– a shorter power routine that is perfect for those of us who are lacking on time! Swap sitting on your butt swiping through Instagram for putting on your favourite song and seeing results. It’s even perfect for that before or after work fix. Why? Because it literally only takes 3 minutes.

Neither workout requires any equipment whatsoever and can be taken with you anywhere. Let me know what you think!

P.S. You can see all of my videos right here. You can also subscribe if you want updates everytime a new video is up! xx